The Football Association (FA) are close to imposing a blanket ban on all gambling within the upper levels of football following several high-profile cases.

Ronnie Moore was sacked by Tranmere on Tuesday having admitted a breach of current regulations – and a new FA proposal would prevent anyone employed in the top eight tiers of English football from betting.

The FA Council is expected to ratify the new regulations on Wednesday before judgement is passed on the 61-year-old Moore, buy cialis who is set to be banned from working in the game.

An FA statement read: “The FA has proposed that from next season, diagnosis participants at Step 4 and above of the English league system will be banned from betting, either directly or indirectly, on any football match or competition anywhere in the world.

“The changes to FA rules from the start of the 2014/15 season would also see a worldwide prohibition on betting on any other football-related matter, for example, the transfer of players, employment of managers or team selection.

“The passing of inside information to somebody that uses the information for betting remains prohibited.”

Kansas City has been awarded 14 men’s and women’s college championships, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has announced. 

“We are pleased that the NCAA and the governing sports committees recognize Kansas City as a city that will provide a great experience for the student-athletes, coaches and fans that travel here in the next several years,” said Cindy Smith, Vice President of Business & Partner Development for the Kansas City Sports Commission.  “Since 2000, Kansas City has served as host to 11 NCAA National Championships and we look forward to hosting many more in the future.”

In 2013, Sporting Park became the first stadium to host the MLS All-Star Game, U.S. Men’s National Team and MLS Cup in the same year. The state-of-the-art venue opened in 2011 and has hosted the U.S. Men’s National Team in competitive matches each of the last three years.

Construction on Phase II of Swope Soccer Village’s $13.44 million expansion began today to prepare for the development of five new synthetic soccer fields. Located at 63rd and Lewis Rd. in Kansas City’s Swope Park, the Swope Soccer Village will be home to nine full-sized soccer fields and facilities upon the project’s completion in 2014.

In May, a $13.44 million expansion to the Swope Soccer Village was formally approved by the City Council. Four months after breaking ground, the complex’s natural grass championship field – the first of six new fields as part of the expansion – opened in November and hosted the 2013 Big 12 Soccer Championship. The conference’s postseason tournament will again be played at the Swope Soccer Village in 2014.

The five new synthetic fields will be built on the east side of Lewis Rd. and will each be furnished with lighting and fencing. Grand Construction serves as the general contractor and Sporting Club Network member Brookside Soccer Club will act as a primary tenant. The development will also provide additional infrastructure updates, including new restroom, concession and storage amenities.

MLS Cup champions Sporting Kansas City opened the team’s training center at the Swope Soccer Village in 2007 with over 7,800 square feet of facility space and three soccer fields. The Sporting KC Academy, Sporting Club Network members and numerous community outreach programs utilize the existing four fields at the complex.

The championships awarded are: 

·      2014 Division III (M&W) Soccer: Dec. 5-6 at Swope Soccer Village

·      2014 Division II Football: Dec. 20 at Sporting Park

·      2015 Division II (M&W) Soccer: Dec. 4-5 at Swope Soccer Village

·      2015 Division I Men’s Soccer: Dec. 11-13 at Sporting Park

·      2015 Division II Football: Dec. 19 at Sporting Park

·      2016 Division II (M&W) Soccer: Dec. 1-3 at Swope Soccer Village

·      2016 Division II Football: Dec. 17 at Sporting Park

·      2017 Division II (M&W) Soccer: Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at Swope Soccer Village

·      2017 Division I Women’s Volleyball: Dec. 14-16 at Sprint Center

·      2017 Division II Football: Dec. 16 at Sporting Park

By Jay Stuart

The newest entry in the UK’s sports television market is off to a fast start in signing up subscribers. BT said Thursday that it has topped more than 500, prostate 000 subs for the new BT Sport package, whose first season of live Premier League action kick offs with Liverpool versus Stoke on August 17.

BT Group Chief Executive Ian Livingston said: “It is early days but we are very pleased with the strong start in BT Sport. More than half a million households have now ordered BT Sport and that’s before the channels have even launched.”

BT said it has spent about £40 million in pre-launch costs for BT Sport. The group added 23,000 pay-TV net subscribers in its first quarter ending June 30, slightly up from the 21,000 increase one year ago. BT had a total of 833,000 pay-TV subs as of mid-2013.

BT has announced a deal with Setanta to add the BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN channels to the Setanta Sports pack so that BT Sport will also be available in the Republic of Ireland from next month.

Minnesota Vikings have agreed terms with the University of Minnesota to use their TCF Bank Stadium for the 2014 and 2015 NFL seasons.

The agreement also allows for two additional seasons, order if necessary.

“We’re pleased to enter into an agreement with the Vikings to allow them to play at TCF Bank Stadium,” said Vice President for University Services Pam Wheelock. “With Board of Regents approval, we plan to start work right away to ensure the facility is ready for the Vikings in 2014.”

“This partnership benefits the University, its neighbors, the Vikings and all Minnesota football fans,” said University President Eric Kaler. “The Vikings will remain part of the Twin Cities region during construction of their new stadium, while proceeds will be used to enhance Gopher Athletics and invest in the fabric of our surrounding neighborhoods.”

The use agreement stipulates that the Vikings will reimburse the University for any required TCF Bank Stadium capital improvements, as well as all game-day operational expenses. In addition, the Vikings will pay the University a per-game rent of $250,000 for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, with minimal increases if additional seasons were to be required. The team will also share $50,000 per game in concessions, advertising and sponsorship revenue. In total, the Vikings will pay the University $300,000 per game, with a maximum of $3 million for each NFL season.

“This collaborative process between the Vikings and the University has led to an agreement that will benefit all parties,” said Vikings Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Warren. “With this agreement solidified, we can now move forward on finalizing a plan that ensures the Vikings provide a great game day experience for our players, coaches and fans while having a positive impact on the University and the surrounding neighborhoods.”

“We appreciate the University’s commitment to host the Vikings while the new downtown stadium is being constructed,” said Vikings Owner and President Mark Wilf. “We look forward to hosting our fans in TCF Bank Stadium in 2014 and 2015.”

IndyCar, asthma the sanctioning body for the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights, generic announced it will not return to Edmonton in 2013.

“When we finalized our schedule for the upcoming 2013 season, it unfortunately did not include Edmonton,” said Randy Bernard, CEO, IndyCar. “We thank the city of Edmonton and all the fans for their support of the event over the last eight years.”

Bernard added: “More importantly this has not affected our plans for a minimum of 19 races next season, and we remain optimistic that we will return to having two races in Canada as early as 2014.  We anticipate announcing our full 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule the first week of October.”

The race on a temporary road course at Edmonton City Centre Airport began in 2005 under the Champ Car banner.

“This news is disappointing for the city and race fans,” Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel said. “The 2012 Edmonton Indy was a great event both on and off the track. It, like previous races, brought economic benefits and international exposure to Edmonton.”

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has held his firm belief that the Bahrain Grand Prix will continue for many years and Formula One will grow in stature in that part of the world.

The race had made damning headline news all week as protesters have clashed with police, anti-government and anti-F1 rallies have been staged, and ultimately one demonstrator was killed, so the dissidents claim, by riot police, but the race itself passed without incident.

This had cast an ugly shadow over F1 and Bahrain for not keeping their political affairs away from sport.

Ecclestone, however, has insisted Bahrain and the Middle East remain important for F1 as he said: “It’s growing all the time, and other places are interested.

“I think it will grow here for sure. You know what they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

The Bahrain International Circuit claimed there were 28,000 paying customers inside the circuit, a surprise given the main grandstand – which appeared to be the only one in use – was only half-full.

But after staging a race many felt should have been cancelled, chairman Zayed Al Zayani was able to finally smile.

“Hosting such a big event would not be possible without the enormous hard work of all involved,” said Al Zayani.

“That includes the marshals, other volunteers and my team at the BIC, and I would like to thank all of them for their efforts.I’m pleased to say we have had a great level of support for this race weekend.

“An independent survey released this week showed that 77% of Bahrainis support the race. In addition to this, there are very few countries that can claim that almost 10% of its population attends its grand prix.

“Given these facts, and the incredible atmosphere at the track today, there can be no doubt in my mind of what Bahrain thinks about F1.”

by Ismail Uddin

Gloucestershire County Cricket club have appealed against the decision to reject planning permission to develop their Bristol home.

The county have also expressed interest in building a new international ground north of the city as they refuse to relinquish their ambitions to stage regular international cricket.

The county’s hopes of undertaking a £10 million development of their Nevil Road ground were dealt a blow when Bristol City Council rejected their plans by six votes to four on January 10. That verdict will now be adjudicated over by an inspector who will report to the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

Should this appeal also be rejected, Gloucestershire insist they will press ahead with plans to relocate outside of Bristol. Tuffley Avenue in Gloucester is one potential location but now a site at Filton Airfield, three miles north of Nevil Road, could also be explored.

South Gloucestershire council are keen to secure the future of Filton Airfield and the Labour-led council have already given their backing to the idea of building a 20,000-seat stadium to become Gloucestershire’s new home.

Gloucestershire are the poor relations among England’s 10 international grounds, receiving less international cricket than any of their rivals. But despite suggestions that too many international grounds have led to rising debt among the test counties and contributed to a surfeit of international cricket, their appetite for expansion has not been dampened.

The club were awarded an ODI against New Zealand in 2013 but this match is expected to be reallocated.

by Ismail Uddin